With the kinds of people that rose to seats of power in democratic countries in recent years, democracy is losing its appeal.
Looking at it more broadly, "governance" does not have to just mean running a country. This thread reminds me of the ideals behind blockchain technology. Connecting decentralisation and democracy in my head also conjure up a creeping shadow: It makes me worry of the possibility that even an ecosystem or platform built based on blockchain can be corrupted. I found
a discussion at Researchgate about this.
Now, about monarchy. Here's something I can share some opinion on.
I've gone back and forth, but at the moment I tend toward thinking that monarchy would be better than democracy, even though monarchy is clearly also very flawed. At least the monarch can have some sort of guiding vision rather than the total schizophrenia we often see in democracies, and they have more personal skin in the game, since the state's success is their success, for their entire lifetime and extending through the lifetimes of their heirs. But I've never lived in an absolute monarchy, and maybe I'd think differently if I did.
I live in an absolute monarchy. As you said, the good thing is there is a guiding vision, and the monarch has a stake in the country's well-being, because it reflects his/her personal capability as the nation's leader + his/her heir will live in that country in the years to come. A monarch have to rely on a bunch of people to run the country though, so that's where issues like nepotism and corruption crops up. The silver lining is that big daddy can smack your ass and throw you out if you aren't a good boy.
Fortunately, I live at a time when my country is led by a good monarch who listens to the people. He made sudden visits to check on how his people live, and how well-run government departments are. This is a by-product of a system where government officials pander to one royal family in order to keep their position. Now, whether or not its good depends on one's perspective...
When it comes to federal budget, the country's treasury and the monarch's pocket is most likely connected. In this respect, should the monarch decides on a more involved government (more socialism than capitalism), the people stands to benefit from this pocket-treasury binding. My country is currently emphasising free medical care and education, even at the expense of the monarch's personal stash. But I can easily imagine how things would turn sour too.
If you have a monarchy, you can put all the nurture and care to a smaller group of individuals. Place your hope, future, dream, in one basket and make sure that basket is the most compassionate and competent basket the world has ever seen. There's always two sides of a coin, like you said.